Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stake Raised by Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.

Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 134.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,300 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the quarter. Ares Management makes up approximately 1.2% of Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $106,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $641,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES traded up $5.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $184.40. The stock had a trading volume of 786,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,012,620. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $57.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.42. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $185.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total value of $6,719,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 304,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,102,893.98. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 614,167 shares of company stock worth $106,716,247. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ARES shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.92.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.